Academic Engagement, From Guatemala to Boston

Sasaki's practice has always been enriched by its connections to academia—whether through the legacy of Hideo Sasaki's teaching-based model, the firm's ongoing commitment to campus planning and design, or teaching engagements at schools across the US and around the world. This month, we're proud to be continuing our academic engagement with students from Guatemala at Universidad Del Istmo (UNIS)!

Zander Shaw from Stantec explains technical challenges of the music box at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.

Sasaki associate Roberto Viola Ochoa recently represented Sasaki for two courses at the UNIS School of Architecture.

Roberto organized a two week graduate program course focusing on integration and design. In the first week, UNIS visited Boston for a series of presentations by engineers, architects, Roger Williams University professors, and visits to construction sites and emblematic buildings in the area. Sasaki's project in Dudley Square was one of the site visits. The second week of the course was taught in Guatemala, where the students focused on a short design exercise implementing concepts they had learned in the preceding week.

Students from UNIS and Roger Williams tour the Dudley Square site with Sasaki architect Meredith McCarthy.

Roberto also led a two-day design charette, "Architecture as a Catalyst for Change," as part of the Cátedra Jorge Montes, an arts and design conference organized by UNIS, with the participation of students from all over Guatemala and El Salvador. The design exercise focused on conceptualizing possible uses for the abandoned Boston Ice Company building in Roxbury, Massachusetts.